Changing Jobs in Mid Life

I recently had a slightly surreal experience which set me thinking about the way that we each view our world.

We arranged to take a long weekend break in Europe that involved getting a taxi to the station, arriving at 4am – an early start! The taxi duly dropped us off just before 4 and we were blearily taking our cases out of the car when a 20something lad wandered up and asked the taxi driver if he could take him home.

So here we were, talking to the same taxi driver about the same taxi but from a completely different perspective – we were starting our day and looking forward to going to France and our 20something friend was ending a long night out and looking forward to his bed.  We were in the same place but viewing the situation from a completely different perspective.

The same is true of politics – I can see it’s the government’s fault, you blame the world crisis. We’re both looking at the same situation.

And music – we listen to the same song – you love it, I hate it.

What about the mid life relationship crisis? Let’s say that your friend becomes involved with a young bride or a toy boy. Whether the new love interest is from Russia, Thailand or from the same country as your friend, do they really think that it’s all going to have a happy ending? You don’t, they do …

So what do we learn from this? That we all view the world with different eyes? This probably indicates that Mid Lifers typically see things differently to younger people. Mid Lifers have more experience to draw on, more real life examples of what works and what doesn’t – the generation gap, if you like. In the world of work, does this prejudice younger people (the hiring managers) against Mid Lifers?

If you’re looking to change jobs, or need to find a new job because you’ve been made redundant, ask yourself where you are most likely to be successful and happy. You will probably have a lot of transferable skills but that doesn’t mean that they can be transferred everywhere. Think about where you are most likely to be happy – that is probably going to be where you can also add most value. If you’ve worked in the customer service department of a big company and you like gardening, working in a large garden centre might strike the right notes for you. If you’re in your 40s, worked in local government for the last 15 years and play in a band at weekends, you’re very unlikely to be happy working in the media. Do you see the difference?

Working in a garden centre ticks the ‘gardening’ box, the ‘customer service’ box and the ‘midlife’ box.

Working in the media ticks the ‘music’ box but most definitely doesn’t tick the ‘mid life’ box – the media is populated with young, thrusting ‘metrosexuals’ who are unlikely to share most of your midlife views of the world.

So understand that we all view the world from different standpoints and that this may affect your chances of landing that new job and ultimately, your likelihood of being happy and productive in your new role. Think about the working environments in which your views and those of your potential new boss and colleagues are likely to coincide rather than conflict – this is where you will find happiness and fulfilment in your work.

Sounds obvious? Maybe, but how many Mid Lifers think they know better!

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Six Midlife Career Change Tips – an Unconventional View

There is an increasing amount of advice available to people in midlife who are looking to find a new job or change careers. Rob Bennett, of PassionSaving.com offers six career change tips which are less conventional than most of the advice on offer. See what you think.

1.       Unconventional midlife career change tip 1: Each day you remain at a job you don’t love because the money is good you fall farther behind on your long-term quest for financial freedom.

Rob contends that remaining in a job because the pay and benefits are good overlooks the importance of recognising ‘what you learn’ from your job. If you aren’t learning in your current role you will be falling behind your peers who are in jobs where training and learning are considered essential. The financial risks of staying at a job where you are not continuing to learn are often greater than the financial risks of making a well-planned move to something you enjoy more.

2.       Unconventional midlife career change tip 2: Don’t take the “Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow” maxim too seriously.

Whilst this may be true, in most cases, it does not establish WHEN the money will follow. A sound financial plan is required to ensure that the new job or project is given enough time to mature and provide the expected financial rewards.

3.       Unconventional midlife career change tip 3: Focus not on work issues but on money issues.

However much you plan, however much you feel you are suited to the new job, you have not done enough to take the risk involved in handing in a resignation from your current job in pursuit of a mid-life career change.

You must put a financial plan in place to smooth out both the current and future transitions. If you don’t, there is a good chance that a few years down the road you will be back in the same sorts of circumstances that caused you to want to make the first midlife career change.

4.       Unconventional midlife career change tip 4: Understand that the real reason for your job dissatisfaction lies within.

Rob’s view here is that it isn’t a bad boss or a bad company culture that causes you to want a midlife career change – it’s you!

There are of course outside forces that play a role in causing you to be dissatisfied in your career and there are bad bosses and some pretty awful company cultures. But those outside forces are not usually the primary factor in causing job dissatisfaction, and it is important for you to understand what the primary factor is if you hope to pull off a successful midlife career change.

It is natural and good to feel dissatisfaction about a job after you have been in it a number of years. It is the desire to learn and grow that is causing you to become dissatisfied with a career that no longer provides the challenge it once did. The surprising thing would be if you never felt a need to pursue a mid-life career change.

5.       Unconventional midlife career change tip 5: Be wary of quick solutions to the problems causing your feelings of dissatisfaction.

It makes perfect sense to seek a new career after mastering an earlier one or finding that one is not suited for the earlier one. The issue to beware of is that there is a good chance that the frustrations experienced in the earlier role will recur, this time when you are older and have fewer fresh-start options open to you.

The best approach is to gain some level of financial freedom before making the switch to a new role. Not always possible, of course, but if this can be attained, then the pressures on you will be greatly reduced. It is by reducing the extent to which one needs to work for money that one obtains the best possible long-term assurance of being able to spend one's time doing soul-satisfying work.

6.       Unconventional midlife career change tip 6: Understand that what you really need is not career planning alone, but a combination of career and financial planning.

Financial planning on its own doesn’t work. Career planning on its own doesn’t work. It is a combination of the two which works best. If you can build a nest egg you have more control over your career options.

Yes, you need to change careers. But you might want to slow down in your implementation of the plan and make sure that the solution you come up with is one that will serve you well for a long time to come. To make a successful mid-life career change, you need not just a job-change plan, but a money-change plan too. Let’s call it your Life Plan!

Read the full article here: www.passionsaving.com

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The Mid Life Opportunity (www.MidLifeOp.com) is a community for Mid Lifers. Advice and Guidance will soon be available from The Mid Life Coaching Panel. It’s free to join so what are you waiting for? Join hereFREE!

Please take 1 minute to complete the 2010 Mid Life Survey: Click here

Mistake-Proofing Your Start-Up Business – advice for Midlifers & others

Mistake-Proofing Your Start-Up Business 

By Jay Arthur

With so many people out of work, or afraid of losing work, it should come as no surprise that many are thinking about starting their own businesses. So how can entrepreneurs mistake-proof their start-ups? All it takes is a little time using free online tools and search engine research with Google.

Mistake 1: Not Listening to the Voice of the Customer

Many start-ups fail because they didn’t understand the “voice of the customer.” First, figure out where the crowds of customers are going and then get in front of the crowd. In the old days, this would involve lots of market research, focus groups and money. Today, these answers can be easily found on the Internet for free with Google’s key word tool: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal.

Mistake 2: Not Speaking Your Customer's Language

Customer language can differ from our own. When naming your business, don't paraphrase; use the customer's exact words. Then check website domain name availability. If it's available, register it; if not, try adding other key words likely to attract customers.

Mistake 3: Not Making Your Product or Service Better, Faster and Cheaper

Too many entrepreneurs try to enter an already crowded market. Search the Internet to find out how many competitors are out there. Customers want you to be better, faster and cheaper than the competition. Ask, “What is the competition? What can we do differently?” If you can’t answer these questions, neither can your customers. When customers can't distinguish one business from another, they default to the familiar or low cost one.

Mistake 4: Not Testing the Business Concept

To test your business or product concept, Google Adwords offers another powerful tool. Google makes its money by putting ads around its search results. Many entrepreneurs use Adwords to test business and marketing concepts before they throw a lot of money at it. All of this research might take a few weeks and a few hundred dollars, but it’s a lot cheaper than wasting your hard-earned money on a doomed startup.

Mistake 5: Not Bootstrapping the Business

Entrepreneurs don’t always need a lot of money to get started. If the business is a product, don't make 10,000 of them. Put up a Web site; bake a few in your kitchen and sell them online or give away free samples to test the response. If the business idea is a service, print some business cards (with your keywords) and pass them out. This is how entrepreneurs bootstrap businesses that grow. It's also how they avoid sinking huge sums of money into bad ideas.

If the first business idea doesn't click, try another one. Walt Disney went bankrupt several times before succeeding … but then again, he didn't have Google. Good luck with your start-up!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jay Arthur, the KnowWare Man, works with companies to fire up their profits with Lean Six Sigma. Jay is author of "Double Your Profits: Plug the Leaks in Your Cash Flow." He spent the last 20 years helping organizations maximize revenue through the "Lean Six Sigma System," a collection of audio, video, books and software. Jay is also the author of "Lean Six Sigma Demystified" and the "QI Macros SPC Software" for Excel. To plug the leaks in your cash flow, sign up for free Lean Six Sigma lessons online at: http://www.qimacros.com/freestuff.html or call (888) 468-1537.

Advice and guidance for Mid Lifers - The Mid Life Opportunity: www.MidLifeOp.com and the Mid Life blog: http://MidLifeOp.blogspot.com